Serra straight-arms St. Francis; stays unbeaten in WCAL play

The Lancers went ahead 21-17 on the opening possession of the second half, scoring on their longest play of the day, a 54-yard strike from sophomore quarterback Drew Cumby to senior Sean Walsh. Serra senior Jayden Aparicio answered on the ensuing kickoff, bursting through the middle of the field and cutting up the home sideline for a 91-yard touchdown return to give the Padres the lead for good.

“‘Don’t kill Apa,’ is what we say around here,” Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said, “which means 11 guys went on the field after they [took the lead] and our guy went untouched into the end zone. And that’s the testament of a team victory. Chaos is happening, crazy things are happening. ... That was a huge, pivotal point.”

St. Francis outgained Serra 291-254, but the Padres (4-0 WCAL, 4-3 overall) benefitted from many a short field, with each of their first five offensive scoring drives starting from Lancers territory.

Running backs Jeovanni Henley and Iziah Singleton still put on a show. Singleton, the 5-9 senior workhorse, took 15 carries for a game-high 97 yards and a touchdown. Henley, the 6-foot junior speedster, dazzled with five carries for 86 yards, and two long touchdowns.

It was an especially meaningful performance for Henley, who missed last year’s showdown at St. Francis due to injury, a game the Padres dropped 27-21.

“Last year we went down there and it was a tough game,” Henley said. “I didn’t play and I was injured ... and that kind of went to my heart, because I feel like I let my team down because I was injured. And I feel like this year I needed some revenge.”

But over the past week, Henley was in doubt for Saturday’s rematch. He missed the previous two weeks due to a mononucleosis diagnosis. Walsh said Henley showed no ill effects, but wasn’t cleared to play until Thursday.

“What’s crazy is it’s 22 guys out there on the field, and it’s that whole John F. Kennedy thing — one man can make a difference, and every man should try,” Walsh said. “And having one guy like [Henley] makes a huge difference.”

Penalties also made a huge difference. While the first-half turnover game was chaos, Serra remained disciplined while the yellow flags were flying for St. Francis. The Padres totaled just three penalties for 20 yards throughout. The Lancers racked up a game-changing 16 penalties for 120 yards, something that has been epidemic all season.

“Yes it has,” St. Francis head coach Greg Calcagno said. “And we’re going to continue to work on that.”

It was the Serra defense, though, that set the tone early with, perhaps, the play of the year.

After the Lancers (2-2, 2-5) jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 10-yard Cumby keeper, Serra returned the ensuing kickoff to St. Francis’ 42. Five plays later, Henley swept around the right side and sprinted for a 22-yard touchdown run; with a two-point conversion run to follow, the Padres jumped ahead 8-7.

The Lancers got sacked by Serra defensive end Paula Tofavaha on the ensuing three-and-out, but the Padres gave it right back on a fumble that St. Francis scooped up and returned 63 yards to the Serra 8-yard line. After getting knocked backward 3 yards on a stop by junior safety Malakai Taufoou, the Lancers faced third-and-goal from the 11 and completed a pass underneath to receiver Riley Barton, but the senior was taken down at the 1.

“It was an underneath route, trying to get behind him with the safety over the top,” Calcagno said. “Obviously, Serra’s well coached, and [Serra defensive coordinator Steve Monsef] had it set up.”

The spot turned out to be paramount as the Lancers opted to go for it, and the ensuing quarterback sneak saw Cumby — making his first varsity start — go high, only for Thomas to meet him head-on at the line of scrimmage. The 6-foot, 285-pound defensive tackle was joined by a host of Serra defenders to push back the brotherly shove and keep the Padres leading on the scoreboard.

The stop was big and so was the wave of momentum on the Serra’s side, as the defense celebrated hugely while running off the field.

“Once we had the stop, it was all types of emotion,” Serra nose guard Lemani Fehoko said. “Everybody was going crazy, the ‘D’ line was up. It set the tone for the ‘O,’ and then they went out there and did their thing.”

The Padres upped it to 14-7 early in the second quarter after senior defensive tackle Peyton Thomas recovered a fumble at the St. Francis 19. Two plays later, Singleton took an inside toss for a 6-yard score. Serra kicker Saul Marks made it 17-7 with 2:55 to go in the half with a 32-yard field goal.

St. Francis shot back with its first sustained drive of the half, as Cumby completed consecutive passes of 19 yards before hitting junior Chase Puckett on a fly route for a 38-yard scoring strike, cutting the Serra lead to 17-14 at halftime.

After the seesaw scoring exchange to start the second half put Serra back ahead on Aparicio’s big kickoff return, the Padres benefitted from another game-changer on special teams. The Lancers were deep in Serra territory, when a sack by Henley at safety forced a punt from the 12-yard line. But, facing fourth-and-18, the St. Francis punter took it upon himself to punt fake and was stopped by Thomas 8 yards upfield to force a turnover on downs.

Calcagno said the fake punt was not called by the sideline.

“No,” Calcagno said. “He just saw it and took it. Sometimes kids make mistakes.”

Serra took over at the Lancers’ 20, and scored five plays later on third-and-goal from the 6, when Taufoou — the Padres’ third quarterback of the day, with the junior under center in Serra’s jumbo Raider package — scored on a play-action bootleg to make it 30-21.

Three punts later, Serra benefitted on an unsportsmanlike conduct call against St. Francis to start at the Lancers’ 36. Junior quarterback Caleb Bandel then took a third-down scramble for 6 yards to set up Marks for a 48-yard field goal.

Walsh said had Serra not picked up the third-down yards, he still would have run Marks onto the field to attempt a 54-yard field goal. In the Padres’ season opener against Folsom, Marks connected for a program-record 53-yard field goal.

“Fifty-five,” Walsh said of Marks’ range. “If there’s a little breeze, I’m good from 60.”

St. Francis was still in it midway through the fourth quarter, though, and used a quick six-play, 71-yard scoring drive — capped by a 20-yard TD pass from Cumby to Sean Walsh — to cut it to 34-28. But the Padres used their longest drive of the day to put the game away, going 81 yards on five plays, capped by an epic 48-yard scoring run as Henley swept around the right side to turn the corner like a bolt from the sky.

“If I get the corner and there’s no one there, I’m running to the end zone,” Henley said. “No one can catch me.”

Serra totaled four sacks in the game, this one week after recording a season-high six sacks, Saturday, Oct. 11, against Sacred Heart Cathedral.

With the win, Serra runs its unbeaten streak in West Catholic Athletic League play to four wins, while improving its all-time record against St. Francis to 24-49. But the win evens the coaching record of Walsh, in his silver anniversary at Serra, to 15-15 all-time against the Padres’ de facto rivals.